Well Hello

This morning I emerged from the shower into the one main room of our little house to dry off and dress. There, standing right on our deck, was a strange man. "Oops," I yelped. "Could you see what that man wants please, Bruce?" His head was down at the computer keyboard, so busily writing away at his new novel that he had not noticed our visitor.

"Xin chao," greeted Bruce. "Hello, hello".

"Xin chao," said the man, helping himself to a chair, puffing away on a cigarette. He seemed very unperturbed that there was a very nervous, fat, white woman in a black brassiere and little else scurrying for cover five feet away.

As I quickly dressed our unexpected visitor sat nonchalantly smoking while gazing out at our garden.

By the time that I was decent enough to go out to investigate Mr. Somebody had wandered back through a break in the hedge to the house next door. He must have assumed that the whole neighbourhood was invited to the ancestor worship that was going on or perhaps our chairs simply looked more comfortable.

The patriarch of the family next door died one year ago and, following tradition, there will celebrations and worship for his soul for another year. His widow is an amazing 98 years old and because her son is our landlord, she comes over every morning to tend our lawn. I am in awe of her agility and a little ashamed that I am often scanning the Net whilst she labours.

The other day walking through the lane beside the Reaching Out Tea House on our way to the craft shop I heard a little voice, "Hello, Hello".  Looking down, I saw the sweetest small boy waving vigorously. I waved and returned his "hello", took his hand and off we strolled. No shyness, no worries. My fantasy of taking home a Vietnamese child was taking shape! Out came Bruce's camera but the boy's father appeared out of nowhere, also with a camera in hand.

"Hello, hello, you want tau hu?" You bet we did! This delicious tofu and ginger treat is peddled on the streets and at the beach. The vendor carries all of her supplies, the fresh tofu, the sugary sauce and the ginger, the bowls and spoons for serving, in baskets on her shoulder poles. She serves the tau hu and then waits discreetly nearby while we slurp it down.

Hiep, her husband and daughter Su My stood on our doorstep. "Hello, Hello. We come to invite you to our house. I will cook cau lau. You come at 7 am for breakfast...7 am western time....that mean on time...Vietnamese 7 am is mebbe 8 o'clock."

Cao Lau (cow and low as in "cow") is a Hoi An specialty. The noodles are thick and the broth is made with water from wells known for their purity.

We knew that this was an honour and off we went the next morning....arriving "just a little bit late". While Su My still slept under a netting at my elbow, we were served the soup in the traditional way. As both Bruce and I rolled over and groaned to a standing position, Hiep said, "Sorry, I know that it is hard for you to sit like Vietnamese, but I wanted you to do it...part of being Vietnamese and enjoying our meals."

The grimace on Bruce's face shows how much he loved sitting on the floor!!!

"Hello, Ong, Ba you there? Are you ready for your Vietnamese lesson?" Grandson Sesame hollers over the fence after school each day to see if we are up for the challenge of improving our Vietnamese vocabulary. Sesame is a patient and encouraging teacher and is able to help us get our tongues around the difficult sounds.

So many "Hello's". Even toddlers who are speaking their first words offer a "heh yo" as we ride by on our bicycles through the village. A welcoming and warm people these Vietnamese.

Celebrating Tet

Tet dawned cool, cloudy and windy. Grey sky, pewter roiling sea, the Cham Islands barely visible on the horizon. It has been so cold that we are still wearing our airplane clothes and last night I slid into bed with all my clothes on. Up north the Vietnamese are really suffering in close-to-freezing temperatures. Village kids have no shoes or jackets, even in Hanoi there is no central heating.

Undeterred by the chill, our little family ventured over to La Plage for a breakfast of bacon and eggs on Tet morning. Nhan, the owner, was so happy to see us all, even though the party crowd at the bar in her seaside bistro kept her busy until 2am serving drinks and food to welcome the New Year the previous night. Bruce and I had been to Ly's house at 6:30am to be her first "lucky" visitors and customers and after breakfast we were all heading downtown to bless and open the Reaching Out shop and tea house.

At the beach bistro, Lucky the dog and a new litter of kittens, as well as a whacky game of pool, kept the boys occupied until breakfast was ready. Quyen got into the kitchen to help Nhan cook and serve!

Preparations got into full swing a couple of days ago, shopping, cleaning, and cooking special traditional Tet items.

Our landlord harvested the betel nuts which were growing along our fence. The betel nuts have special significance on the shrines and altars set up to worship the ancestors and pray for luck, good fortune, wealth and happiness in the coming year.

Prayer flags have appeared at local shrines and pagodas and even modes of transportation are blessed with fruit and flower offerings and burning incense on the grill. Cigarettes are often gifts at the altars, some are simply scattered in the street, along with candy.

Visiting the pagoda is a ritual also followed on the day of Tet where once again ancestors are venerated and those of the Buddhist faith pray, chant and offer donations. In return the monks will invoke a blessing or even predict a "fortune" for the coming year.

I hover close to this statue of Quan Am, Lady Buddha the bodhisattva of compassion.

With flowers adorning the temples, pagodas and shrines, they become even more stunning works of art. The altar fronts, even in small local shrines, are often elaborately painted

But best of all are the children's festive costumes, whether traditional or "high fashion".

Our Gao wore a yellow ao dai made by Quyen. The three brothers in matching ao dai were pretty spiff and overshadowed their little sister in red silk. Nothing though, topped the fashionista in the white tulle, knitted bolero and UGG's on her feet.

Not to be outdone the kids on our road were also sporting some pretty fabulous dresses. We spotted these two charmers across the road. I love the little one who absolutely would not look at the camera until she had safely tucked the "lucky" money envelope which I had given her into her rather large purse. The Mickey Mouse jacket and Hello Kitty hand bag worn by her sister over her ao dai also made me smile.

And everyone has to have a picture of the family at the shrine, including us of course!!!

Binh, Quyen and the boys were then off to see their parents and in-laws for a full day of visiting. We could come home for a snooze and later a bike ride. We had had enough by 10 am!!

Our first week here has sped by. We are hoping for an improvement in the weather but the coolness has kept the mosquitoes away AND the tourists from the beach.

All Settled in at An Bang Beach, Hoi An, Vietnam

Today is Saturday. We arrived late Wednesday afternoon and after a couple of days settling in we feel very much at home at An Bang beach, our "other" home.

This year we are staying in a nice little house right next door to our Vietnamese family. Quyen put in a lot of effort to make our place comfortable and cosy.

About one hundred yards away, over a sand dune, the ocean crashes ashore. Sand is drifting into the lane outside our gate. It is unusually windy, cool, cloudy and occasionally rainy; so unlike our stay here in September and October when the heat and humidity almost knocked us over.

We have a place to sleep, a place to cook, a place to shower and even a washing machine..how civilized.

Tet, the celebration of Lunar New Year is two days away so there are busy frantic crowds at all the markets. Motor bikes are zooming to and fro, laden with families, pigs, vegetables, kumquat trees and big bags of paper clothing to be burned at the ancestral alter. The banks are closed, many restaurants and shops have shut for the holiday and food is being prepared in advance. This morning while we visited over freshly ground and brewed coffee, Quyen prepared a savoury pate, which will be refrigerated for two days, then sliced with other delicacies.

Breakfast this morning in the village was bun tau (we think!)....vermicelli noodles in a steaming broth with beef and greens, flavoured with limes, peppers, garlic and vinegar ( these you add yourself so the heat is just right!)

Every year it gets harder and harder to get down onto and up from the little plastic stools which are ubiquitous. We are often the entertainment, but our hosts are kind and solicitous. We are taught through charades how to season and eat their offerings. The best part though is that now we are beginning to be treated like "locals" and sometimes left to our own devices....but it means that we get local prices, as little as two dollars for BOTH of us!!

Marketing can still be a challenge; a challenge that I love but which Bruce finds difficult. I love the theatre of the hunt, the bargaining and the elation when it all comes together. If one vendor does not have what we are looking for, she will run off to a neighbouring stall for you and there is great celebration when we finally understand each other and agree on a price. Deals on small things like light bulbs, tea towels and hangers can take a good 20 minutes to finalize. We have the time!!!

Tet rituals are numerous and often have to do with ensuring luck and good fortune for the coming year. So far we are on tap to bring "double lucky" to the home and prospects for Ly, a young woman whom we met in the neighbourhood on our last two visits. Bruce is mad about her daughter Su My who is two and a real sweetie. Ly sells trinkets at the beach during the warmer weather when tourists abound. However in this stormy cool weather Ly realizes that her chances are slim making a sale on the first day of the year, before 7am. So guess who will be cycling over to her house first thing Tet morning. The belief is that the two hours between 5 and 7am are auspicious. 

After that we will head into town so that we can be the first customers at Reaching Out when they open at 9am.

My job now is to fill envelopes with "lucky money" for little children. The money has to be crisp and new. Thank goodness I remembered to ask Quyen to get me the 20,000 VDN notes before the banks closed for the holiday.

Sweet moments follow one after the other. We are happy!